Abstract: In order to study the effect of the roof cutting position on pressure unloading and the stability of inclined coal seam, geomechanical modeling tests were carried out according to the conditions existing in the working face of Shuangyashan coal mine. Analog materials and model frames were used to simulate the geological structure and the in-situ stress of coal seam. The deformation fields of the coal pillar, coal body and roof before and after the roof cutting were measured in real time by using the digital image correlation method. The experimental study shows that when the roof cutting is carried out at the coal pillar adjacent to the roadway, deformation is concentrated in the roadway and the coal pillar, the overlying strata sank, the tension deformation occurrs in the coal pillar, that when the roof cutting is carried out at the coal pillar adjacent to the goaf, the coarse sandstone and the fine sandstone slid relatively along the boundary interface, but the sliding displacement is small, that when the roof cutting is carried out at a position having a distance of 3 meters to the outer edge of the coal pillar, the coal body on the side of the goaf is plastically deformed, the lateral plastic zone of the coal pillar will have a horizontal displacement, and the roof subsidence will have a little effect on the deformation of the coal pillar, and that the position having a distance of 3 meters to the outer edge of the coal pillar is the best roof cutting position.

Key words: inclined coal seam, roof cutting for pressure unloading, analog material, rock burst, digital image correlation method(DICM)